Sophia Institute online Art of Teaching Waldorf Program

Art of Teaching Waldorf Grade 5

Lesson 9

Waldorf Methods/Sciences

Introduction

" ... ancient wisdom contained no contradiction between body and soul or between nature and spirit; because one knew: Spirit is in man in its archetypal form; the soul is none other than the message transmitted by spirit; the body is the image of spirit. Likewise, no contract was felt between man and surrounding nature because one bore an image of spirit in one's own body, and the same was true of every body in external nature. Hence, an inner kinship was experienced between one's own body and those in outer nature, and nature was not felt to be different from oneself. Man felt himself at one with the whole world. He could feel this because he could behold the archetype of spirit and because the cosmic expanses spoke to him. In consequence of the universe speaking to man, science simply could not exist. Just as we today cannot build a science of external nature out of what lives in our memory, ancient man could not develop one because, whether he looked into himself or outward at nature, he beheld the same image of spirit. No contrast existed between man himself and nature, and there was none between soul and body. The correspondence of soul and body was such that, in a manner of speaking, the body was only the vessel, the artistic reproduction, of the spiritual archetype, while the soul was the mediating messenger between the two. Everything as in a state of intimate union. There could be no question of comprehending anything. We grasp and comprehend what is outside our own life. Anything that we carry within ourselves is directly experienced and need not be first comprehended. ... Precisely because man had lost the connection with nature, he now sought a science of nature from outside." - Rudolf Steiner in "The Origins of Natural Science."

In Waldorf education, the science subjects do not start with nor are built from theories and formulas. Rather they start with the phenomena and develop in an experiential way, by first presenting the phenomenon, having the students make detailed observations, then guiding the students to derive the concepts that arise from the phenomena, and finally deriving the scientific formulas and laws behind the phenomena.This methodology reflects the way basic science actually has been developed by scientists and trains the pupils stepwise in basic scientific thinking and reflection on the basis of personal experience and observation of the phenomena of nature and the history of science. In kindergarten and the lower grades, the experience of nature through the seasons is brought to the children through nature walks, nature tables and observation of nature around. In later grades, there are specific main lesson blocks dealing with Man and Animal, and other themes. In grade 5, scientific ideas may be taught historically through the study of the Greeks, for example, Aristotle, Archimedes and Pythagoras. In grades 6-8 the science curriculum becomes more focused with blocks on physics (optics, acoustics, mechanics, magnetism and electricity), botany, chemistry (inorganic and organic), and anatomy. In high school, science is taught by specialists who have received college level training in biology, chemistry and physics and these three subjects are taught in each of the 4 years of high school.

Study Material for this Lesson

Life Sciences/Introduction

The whole structure of the Steiner-Waldorf curriculum is profoundly ecological.

The teaching method itself, going from the whole to the parts, confirms this and encourages children to keep the widest perspective on their studies at any age. As examples: in the kindergarten an active awareness of the seasons, in the Middle School a sense of the wisdom revealed by the intricate relationships of plants and animals, in the Upper School an appreciation that analytical thinking and holistic thinking each make their different contribution to our understanding of living processes.

The themes taken up in different classes within the life sciences relate organically to the curriculum throughout the school, subconsciously nourishing a sense of unity within the whole.

As with other aspects of the Steiner-Waldorf curriculum such as writing and reading, what is recognisably learning in the conventional sense does not appear until much later than is usually the case. Nevertheless, as with writing and reading, the skills only seem delayed to the superficial eye and closer attention will show that seed preparations are being made in the soil of earlier consciousness for the faculties to germinate and grow rapidly in later years. It is hard to avoid such growth metaphors to explain the richness and depth of the curriculum and the teaching process.

It is remarkable that, many years before public awareness of environmental issues arose, the Steiner- Waldorf curriculum had laid the basis for the cultivation of an ecological consciousness in children.

Kindergarten

As elaborated in the section on Early Years, Steiner- Waldorf education perceives the very young child as having a qualitatively different consciousness from that of the adult or even the older child. There is not the same separation or distance between self and the world. The consciousness is much more within the environment and within what attracts attention, with sense impressions deeply absorbed and played out through the limbs as activity and imitation.

Any study of the life sciences needs to have its foundation in such intense experiences but modern life does not provide much time for young children to be actively present in a natural and living environment.

A Steiner-Waldorf kindergarten lays the basis for this in number of ways:

* The celebrations of the festivals make the rhythms of the earth, moon and sun an integral part of the child's awareness of the world * The time spent in creative play (working with wood, wool, water and sand, for example) brings a wealth of sensory experiences which cultivate keen observation in later years * Their teacher's care for the beauty and orderliness of the Kindergarten environment, inside and outside, will encourage those same qualities in the children. It will also go deeper, nurturing a respectful and precise attitude to their investigations of nature when they are older * Stories, fairy tales, verses and artistic activities develop the imaginative faculties, without which the foundations of scientific method are barren and the holistic quality of thinking necessary to comprehend the complexity of the living world is stunted

Classes 1, 2 and 3

The underlying mood of these classes carryall the themes relevant to the life sciences. The stories that are chosen during these stages of development reflect the changing relationship of the young child to the living world.

In Classes 1 and 2, the stories carry themes of transformation - the frog changing into the prince, the death of the snake and the appearance of the princess. They allow the children to understand the language of the animals and to be aware of other beings - gnomes, fairies - that guard secrets or protect life. Such imaginative elements are not fanciful, but lay foundations for a healthy feeling relationship towards the complexities and intricacies of animal/plant relationships and the hidden qualities of the biosphere studied in the Upper School through the faculty of clear thinking.

In Class 3, creation stories give an holistic image of the origins of the earth, plants, animals and human beings. Other stories relate how particular people, holy people or saints, cultivated a special relationship with the animal world (e.g. St. Francis). In the farming main-lesson, the children learn how the farmer works with the forces of nature. As well as ploughing, sowing and harvesting there are hedges and fences to maintain, lambs to protect, land to drain and crops to weed.

All of this forms the prelude to a more conscious study of the living world in the following years, as well as unconsciously confirming that an ecology which respects and cares for the Earth has its ethical basis in the moral development of human beings.

Classes 4 to 8

There is a distinct threshold in the inner development of the nine year old and in Class 4 this establishes itself with the children experiencing more distance to the people and the world around them. The imaginative faculties are still deeply drawn by a story, but the content now needs a sharper definition. Observations and descriptions of the living world which combine accurate detail with a sense of the character of the plant or animal and the environment in which they live, form a bridge to Classes 6, 7 and 8.

The characterisation of a cow in Class 4, for example, can allow the particular quality of the animal to emerge from the details of its physical form, its movements, its diet and its whole way of life. The gaze, the movements, the chewing, the teeth, the chambered stomach, the digestive power which creates the richness of milk from its unlikely source, the birth and development of the calf - all these characteristics do more than define the cow as an 'herbivorous mammal: They allow a feeling relationship to the cow, which is neither sentimental nor a fantasy, but a healthy union of the artistic, feeling faculty and exact observation. This can include those ways in which a creature's behaviour seems to reflect inner qualities such as greed, loyalty, pride, cunning and determination. At this stage of a child's development it is an appropriate step towards objectivity for the children to recognise that to be human is to be aware of these qualities and to keep them in balance.

Teaching Class 5 about the oak tree, for instance, with its unique characteristics and gestures, through lively description, painting, and poetry leads their own experiences towards an accuracy of observation which does not degrade the essential nature of the oak into a mere category. The children's experience of animals remains relatively holistic in quality and there is no need to introduce ideas such as that of 'species: The aim is to characterise the animals studied qualitatively so that their life-patterns, relationship and adaption to their environment can be appreciated.

The Class 6 geology, the Class 7 health and nutrition themes and the Class 8 study of the human body increasingly draw on the children's own observations. The emphasis is on the phenomena as they can be experienced (through direct observation or the description of the teacher) rather than on the theories that may be current in contemporary science.

Gardening as an activity emerges from the general care for the classroom plants to the cultivation of a plot, where flowers and vegetables can be grown, compost can be made and responsibilities for the land awakened in a practical way. Weekly lessons can accompany all life science main-lessons through to Class 8.

Upper School

The threshold between puberty and adolescence gives birth to the faculties of thinking in a new way. While the early trials of adolescence have strong physical and emotional characteristics, it is the awakening thinking which guides young people towards some clarity on the great issues of identity and meaning which rise up before them increasingly: who am I?, what is life for?

The emphasis of the life sciences in Classes 9 and 10 is on the human body and the processes that provide the physical basis for consciousness, health and reproduction. The intention is to provide a basis for appreciation and wonder of the living form. The curriculum seeks to avoid presenting analogues of the body as a machine, or human motivation in merely determinist terms, in a way that tends to narrow or reduce the outlook of young people. They can, however, begin to compare and contrast current and historical models for life science, learning to recognise how theories evolve or are rejected through proposing hypotheses and testing them over time. Meanwhile, adolescents need to exercise their burgeoning thinking capacities on understanding the processes within the body, recognising its complexities and mysteries and to facing the issues that arise through the advance of medical science.

Alongside these studies, practical work with plant and animal should include field studies and bring a direct environmental and ecological emphasis to the life science curriculum.

By Classes 11 and 12, the adolescents' faculty of thinking has strengthened and matured to become more deeply engaged by ideas. The life science curriculum meets this with a study of botany and zoology in which current cell theory, genetics and Darwinism play a major part. This emphasis is echoed in a study of atomic theory, light wave/ particle duality and astronomy in the chemistry and physics main-lessons. Young people's thinking is now mature enough to appreciate that there are alternative scientific viewpoints than the ones currently portrayed in the textbooks or through popular science and technology. Through an historical approach to scientific ideas and the consequences of technology, they can gain the perspective to recognise that a healthy science sees theories rise and then fall as new phenomena are explored.

The life sciences curriculum in a Steiner- Waldorf school can lead young people to a clear understanding of contemporary scientific theory, an awareness of the human and environmental issues, issues raised by technology, as well as leaving them with a lively, open-minded attitude to the future of both.